Access to Council Information

Access to Council Information

Burwood Council is committed to the following principles regarding public access to documents and information:

Open and transparent government

Consideration of the overriding public interest in relation to access requests

Proactive disclosure and dissemination of information

Respect for the privacy of individuals

Provision of Information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act)

The GIPA Act came into effect on 1 July 2010 and replaced the former freedom of information act.

The GIPA Act:

creates new rights to information that are designed to meet community expectations of more open and transparent government.

encourages government agencies to proactively release government information.

Open Access Information

Council has an obligation under the GIPA Act to publicise certain 'open access information' on its website, unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information or unless to do so would impose unreasonable additional costs to Council.

Outlines Council’s structure, functions, the right the public participate in the formulation of policy, identifies the various kings of information held by Council, information that is publicly available and where a charge is imposed

A register of Council's investments is reported to Ordinary Council Meetings on a monthly basis. For access to the most up to date information go to the business paper for the most recent Ordinary Council Meeting

Disclosure of Political Donations and Electoral Expenditure for a Local Government Councillor

Information regarding disclosures of political donations lodged by candidates, groups, members of parliament, local government Councillors, political parties and political donors can be found on the Electoral Funding Authority Website

Contribution plans are made by Council under the planning legislation to enable conditions to be imposed on consents for specified developments to require a contribution towards the provision of public amenities and services where Council is satisfied that there will, or is likely, to be new or increased demand resulting from the developments. Burwood Council has the following plans:

Section 94a Contributions Plan for the Burwood Local Government Area – excluding the Burwood Town Centre

Under clause 64 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, Council may assume the NSW Department of Planning's Director-General's concurrence in respect of an application to vary a development standard under State Environmental Planning Policy No. 1 (SEPP 1/Clause 4.6), subject to maintaining a register and reporting these variations under SEPP 1/Clause 4.6 to the Department of Planning.

A person may inspect the certificate at any time however to obtain a copy of the certificate the owner’s consent must be obtained and payment of the prescribed fee be made (see Council's Schedule of Fees and Charges)

Formal Access to Information Application

If you have not been able to obtain the information you require through Council’s website or an open access application, you can lodge a Formal Access to Information Application at Council.

Fees and Charges for Formal Applications:

Application Charge

Application Fee

Processing Charge

Open Access (Informal) Application

Nil

Nil however photocopying charges may apply

Formal Application

$30*

$30 per hour calculated after the first hour

* subject to 50% reduction for financial hardship (pensioner)

Rights of Review and Appeal

Where a member of the public is refused access under the GIPA Act, Council Officers will provide details of the reasons for refusal to the member of the public in writing. An applicant who has been refused access by Council to information requested under a formal request for access to information under the GIPA Act has three options of review available:

Applicants can apply to Council for an internal review. The review is conducted by someone more senior than the original decision maker and there is a $40 fee. Applicants have 20 working days from receiving notice of a decision to ask for an internal review.

If an applicant is not satisfied with the internal review, or does not want one to be conducted by Council, they can ask for a review by the Information Commissioner. Applicants have eight weeks from being notified of a decision to ask for this review.

If an applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the Information Commissioner or the internal reviewer or if they do not want to take these options they can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a determination.

It is noted that there are no rights of review in respect of open access applications, but the applicant may make a formal application at any time.